PREP VOICES : Balancing Act

It’s student -athlete, not athlete-student. There’s no “which-came-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg” question about it.

If a high school athlete doesn’t pay sufficient attention to his academics, he won’t be an athlete for long. The California Interscholastic Federation and Southern Section high school governing bodies see to that.

The CIF’s Constitution and By-Laws state that to be eligible to play sports, a student must, among other things, have “maintained during the previous grading period a minimum of passing grades, which is defined as at least a 2.0 grade-point average in all enrolled courses on a 4.0 scale.”

That’s the minimum. Individual schools are allowed to impose their own scholastic rules regarding athletic eligibility as long as “they are not less rigid than the minimum requirements of the CIF Southern Section.”

And for those looking forward to competing in college, that governing body--the NCAA--has minimum academic entrance requirements and an unforgiving reputation.

Proposition 48, which went into effect in 1986, requires incoming student-athletes to have earned a 2.0 GPA in high school core classes and score a minimum of 700 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test or 17 on the American College Testing examination. The college landscape has been littered with Prop. 48 casualties over the years.

Proposition 16, which takes effect in the 1995-96 school year, will require the same entrance exam test scores as Prop. 48, but raises the minimum GPA to 2.5. However, a student with a GPA as low as 2.0 can offset that with a higher SAT or ACT score.

Proposition 16 also increases the number of required high school core classes from 11 to 13. Core classes, such as math and English, are mandatory for graduation from high school.

So despite the long hours student-athletes put in before and after school practicing their sports, it can all be for naught unless they’re also hitting their books.

In the first Prep Voices of the school year, The Times Orange County asks:

“In what ways does playing high school sports affect academic performance?”

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I play varsity tennis for Edison High and it helps me do better in school because after sitting in the classroom for six hours, I have to get some exercise.

I need to breathe the fresh air, get my blood going, and hit the ball as hard as I can to relieve the frustrations and stress from school. I need to get out and see my friends and have some fun. There is no way I could go home and start my homework and studying right after school.

When I come home after practice or a match, I am able to spend the rest of the evening on my work and concentrate better because I have had a break.

Susie Krum

Edison senior

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Athletics emphasizes academics. A college athlete is referred to as a student-athlete. Drawing from personal experience, USC’s and UC Santa Barbara’s athletic teams had a higher graduation rate than any other group on campus. Mandatory study halls, tutors available nightly, proctors administering tests on the road, players Federal Expressing papers back to USC from Georgetown, and GPA standards regulating eligibility all underline the importance athletics puts on academics.

In regards to high school athletics, coaches, parents and guidance counselors, in my case, continually emphasized the need of high academic performance, SAT scores and core curriculum requirements to be eligible for athletic scholarships.

Tom Danley at Katella High School continually monitored his players’ academic standards and routinely disciplined players who did not perform in the classroom.

A member of a high school athletic team is a public figure forced to uphold the reputation of his team and not embarrass himself or his program in the classroom, on the court or off the court. For those high school kids who excel in the classroom and on the field, the reward is going from being a high school athlete to a student-athlete.

Bob Erbst

Katella, Class of ’86

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Those involved with athletics, especially in the sports that I coach, are above the normal as far as academic performance goes.

We tend to get the kids who are very bright, very well-disciplined and are very productive in and out of the classroom. That makes sports, particularly cross-country, a very complementary activity for those kids who do well in school because it gives them a high sense of discipline and accomplishment.

Every kid has a great opportunity to accomplish many goals. What transpires on the cross-country course and on the track carries over very well in the classroom.

Gary Gross

Capistrano Valley track and cross-country coach

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Athletics and academics go very well together. Athletics is a good discipline and motivating force in a young person’s life. The combination of athletics and academics brings both the mind and the body together in what I consider to be perfect harmony.

Obviously academics is utmost in importance and then comes athletics. But again, the two of them combined with the proper background as far as family and school support can really help a young person prosper.

Danny Chapin

Laguna Beach

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Correlation between academics and extracurricular activities, including athletics, band, drill team, etc., has proven to be positive. Studies done through the years have shown participation will increase self-esteem and the desire to succeed. They not only keep many students in school, they also force them to work to maintain a minimum grade-point average. As they work to get their grades up, many find themselves educationally and strive to excel academically, as well.

These activities are the best weapons in the fight against teen-age drug/alcohol abuse, pregnancy, negative gangs, etc. They provide a positive direction for the energy that many young adults have. The discipline, sacrifice and work ethics that they learn from these activities will be with them for the rest of their lives and will be a big asset for a successful future.

These programs, in conjunction with academics, help provide a well-balanced and rounded education that is the basis for the rest of their lives.

Robert “Rob” Stewart

Member of the Board of Trustees, Anaheim Union High School District

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Playing high school sports greatly affects your social life, but if you learn how to budget your time, your academic performance isn’t affected very much.

People have a problem of not being able to budget their time and leaving behind all the social life. There is plenty of time to do high school work, as I’ve learned. I have a 4.0 grade-point average in high-level classes, and I’m still maintaining it even though I play on the varsity football team.

Zach Leggett

Edison sophomore

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You should be aware that the statistics say 95% of all high school dropouts are not involved in after-school sports or other extracurricular activities. Those students who want to do well will do well with the minimum grade-point average in mind. It builds character for the young people and shows them how hard work and extra work can pay off.

So I’m all for kids participating in sports, again, with the knowledge that they must maintain a minimum GPA to participate. It’s not a right, it’s a privilege. Most student athletes don’t abuse the privilege.

Bruce King

Brea-Olinda asst. baseball coach

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I don’t think being involved in sports should affect grades at all. The student needs to be determined, work hard and have regimentation to his schedule.

My son works 15-20 hours a week, carries a grade-point average of 4.22 and takes five Advanced Placement classes. He does play varsity football and he achieves this by getting five to six hours of sleep each night, and hard work.

You cannot expect to spend a lot of time watching television or sleeping or doing other extra-curricular activities--that has to all be limited. But hard-working people will be rewarded in the end. I really don’t think athletics affects grades at all, it’s the student’s attitude.

Pat Rasmussen

Huntington Beach

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Most students involved in extracurricular activities, including sports, are good students. Their time schedules are more organized, they are more motivated and have clear direction and goals. If athletics has any kind of effect on students, I would say that it’s a positive one.

Tom Linnert

Mater Dei’s director of retreats and COR (Christian Outreach)

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Athletics enhances a student’s performance. I’m on the varsity basketball and volleyball teams, and I know it teaches me to manage my time better.

Brooke Hyman

Aliso Niguel freshman

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I am a senior at Edison High and as a dual-sport athlete--water polo in the fall and soccer in the winter--I feel that playing school sports has had a positive effect on my academic performance.

With morning practice for water polo three times a week, afternoon practices every day, soccer games (in a recreation league) twice a week, working part time and being enrolled in honors and college preparatory classes, there seems to be little time left for schoolwork. However, I have discovered that while my sports are in season, I am able to budget my time more efficiently than when I’m not involved in sports.

For example, Monday mornings I get up at 5:45 and go to water polo practice until 7. When I get home, I have time for a shower and breakfast. Since school doesn’t start until 8:30, I have 30 minutes to review my homework from the previous night and look over test material. After school, I have one hour to do homework before practice. After practice, I rush home and get ready for work. When I return from work at 10 p.m., I know that I only have one hour to do homework, otherwise I am too tired to get up at 5:45 the next morning.

Because of my busy schedule, it is easy for me to set my priorities straight and budget my time. During the spring, however, when my sports are not in season, I seem to procrastinate and put off my homework until the last minute; as a result, my grades suffer.

Playing sports has taught me the importance of dedication, commitment, timing, teamwork, responsibility and preparation. I believe that applying these sports-related skills into academics can be successfully achieved.

Rita Ann Higi

Edison senior

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Sports activities helped give (my son) a good sense of competition that carried over to the classroom to make him an honor student.

I know how important sports are to children of any age or at any level. When kids are involved with sports, they benefit in many ways, most of all with good sportsmanship, citizenship and their academics. It gives them a good sense of well-being.

Don Clark

Canyon asst. football coach

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I participated in band, yearbook and cross-country, worked part time and graduated from Katella High with a cumulative GPA in excess of 3.5. I found that any extracurricular activity requires the participant to prioritize and manage his time in such a manner that he can accomplish all that is asked of him. This establishment of priorities and time management provides for a valuable lesson that carries far after graduation.

In relation to academics, there is, of course, the minimum GPA requirement to participate in extracurricular activities; however, sports in particular teach you to set your goal(s) and then strive to achieve them.

Homework is the “practice” and the test is your “game” or “meet.” How you practice reflects how you play, and this lesson is applied every day in your performance of everything you do. Students often get themselves into more than they can handle, but with counseling, coaching and--most importantly--parental involvement, they can accomplish anything they set their sights on.

John Walden

Anaheim

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The thing that’s missed by not participating in sports is the discipline that’s involved not only in sports but life. Athletes also learn that they should finish what they’ve started and not be quitters.

There’s so much emphasis put on academics, that a lot of what sports can offer is lost. I hope it doesn’t get blown out of proportion where kids are being left out of sports because of parents because of academic reasons, but it’s completely up to the coaches to make sure their (players’) academics are kept up to date.

Dave Keith

Cypress College asst. baseball coach

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Sports helps students with their academic performance by making them really strict with their time so they just want to do their homework quicker.

Christina Vasconcellos

El Modena sophomore

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I was at one time a scholar athlete, and I enjoyed the atmosphere of camaraderie and discipline, but I can’t help but make a value judgment on the principles of being a student athlete.

Although being an athlete brings a sense of discipline, along with it comes an elitist attitude. Students caught up in the hierarchies of being popular, tend to condition themselves to being “jocks.” I’ve seen too many cases where my teammates gave up their academic lives to pursue being better football players.

I encourage improvement and perseverance, working toward a goal, but when students cannot prioritize what is more important, they are walking on deadly ground. In many cases, students are deluding themselves with a false sense of hope, working toward being a first-string quarterback rather than getting an ‘A’ in history.

Mike Choi

Woodbridge, Class ’92

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There’s no question, after coaching for quite a while, that the kids who spend hour after hour in athletics find the time to get the good grades because they know how to make the time. They’re in a team sport situation and they learn how to use their time wisely.

Gary Humphreys

Santa Ana

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Like any activity outside of studies, sports can adversely affect academic performance. However, if the activities are balanced, then academic performance improves. It keeps the youngster focused.

I’ve had four youngsters in sports at La Quinta--two are going through the program now--and the school does an excellent job of encouraging the children to balance (academics and athletics).

Charles Gibson

Westminster

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It’s to the point now where high school athletics is a year-round endeavor. It’s not like back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, when high school sports were strictly seasonal. Now, it’s conditioning for your particular sport year-round. It takes a lot of time, and in order to excel, you’ve got to put in your time.

But it’s all for naught unless you’re doing your book work as well. If you’re not committed enough, there’s no way you can keep up, so your academia comes first. If you don’t get the grades, you don’t get to play.

So early on, the ones who are not committed are going to weed themselves out and you’re going to end up with the survivors--the ones who are willing to put in the time. It’s a positive thing for those who are really committed.

Bob Torres

Orange, Class of ’62

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As a student-athlete in high school and college, and as a coach, I felt sports affected academics in a very positive manner.

I ran cross-country, and every year at my school, El Modena, we had the valedictorian (on the cross-country team). Sports brought out discipline, which translated over into the academic program; we knew what we had to do and we did it.

When I was a coach, I always pushed that, and I always thought the kids who were in sports were a little more driven. And even those who were not very academically inclined did as well as they could because of that inner drive that an athlete needs.

Joe Vanegas Jr.

Orange

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High school sports keeps students goal-oriented and highly motivates them to keep their heads and minds in the game.

Julie Millard

Laguna Niguel

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I played four years of basketball at Indio High and graduated with a 3.7 GPA. The thing I noticed at the time was I didn’t have any time for socializing, what with studies, classes and three hours of practice per day pretty much throughout the year. But my grades didn’t suffer and I did manage to have some success on the field.

Ralph Berry

Huntington Beach

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Sports has really disciplined my child academically. He is very competitive, stays healthy and is social. It makes the (team) really work together, so they learn teamwork and problem-solving as well as having fun. They also are pretty good students.

Sports have to remain within the schools to (let children) have fun (and develop) discipline and a competitive spirit.

Haeja Lee

Laguna Niguel